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1. The Case for Intellectual Property Rights: Should Patents Be Strengthened, Weakened or Abolished Altogether?

Author:
Joel Blit
Publication Date:
11-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
The case for patents rests crucially on three conditions: that innovation is undersupplied in the absence of patents; that patents promote increased innovation; and that the welfare benefits of any additional innovation outweigh the welfare costs associated with the temporary monopoly that patents generate. While it is probably true that innovation is undersupplied, the empirical evidence is mixed on whether patents foster innovation. This may be due to patents stifling cumulative innovation because of holdup and ex ante uncertainty over patent rights. This policy brief recommends that to reduce the potential for holdup, uncertainty around patent rights should be reduced. Patents should be easily searchable and more easily understood by non-legal experts. In addition, patents should be narrower and more clearly demarcated. To the extent that the welfare costs of patents appear to outweigh their benefits, the requirements for obtaining a patent should be tightened. Further, patents should be made less broad and, concomitant with the reduction in the length of the product cycle, the length of patents should also be reduced.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Science and Technology, Intellectual Property/Copyright, and Governance
Political Geography:
United States

2. U.S.-Russia Health Engagement

Author:
Judyth L. Twigg
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Over the last few years, Russia's relationship with the United States has traveled a swift and seemingly deliberate arc from partner to pariah. The current turmoil in Ukraine and near-certain resulting isolation of Russia culminate several years' worth of deteriorating ties. The Edward Snowden mess, disagreements over Syria and Iran, dismay over the eroding human rights environment in Russia, and now Russian annexation of Crimea have led the previously heralded "reset" to an unceremonious end. What are the implications of these and related developments for U.S.-Russia collaboration in medicine and public health? Should avenues of partnership remain open, even in such a frosty political context? Should the international community support Russia's health sector when ample resources exist within Russia itself? Is it even possible anymore?
Topic:
Development, Diplomacy, Economics, Health, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and North America

3. High Stakes for Young Lives: Examining Strategies to Stop Child Marriage

Author:
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
An estimated one-third of girls around the globe become brides before the age of eighteen and one in nine do so before the age of fifteen. In recent decades, the issue of child marriage has grown in profile and priority for many policymakers. The Elders, a group of global leaders including former United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Anna n and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, have taken on the issue and opted to use their platform to speak out against the practice, as have other prominent international organizations. The UN estimated that in 2011, nearly seventy million women ages twenty to twenty-four had married before they turned eighteen. If current trends continue without pause, in the next ten years, more than 140 million girls will be married before their eighteenth birthdays. In order to design interventions that can scale to match the level of the challenge, it is critical to understand the drivers of child marriage and the factors that can curb it.
Topic:
Globalization, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Reform
Political Geography:
United States

4. Fiscal and Generational Imbalances and Generational Accounts: A 2012 Update

Author:
Jagadeesh Gokhale
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Official federal budget accounts are constructed exclusively in terms of current cash flows – receipts from taxes and fees and outlays on purchases and transfers. But cash-flows do not reveal economically relevant information about who benefits and who loses from government policies. Cash flows also do not reveal how changes in government's policies redistribute resources within and across generations, including reducing the tax burden on today's generations and increasing it on future ones. Because most government transact ions are targeted by age and gender, the federal government can bring about large resource transfers across generations. Intergenerational resource transfers will grow larger as the composition of budget receipts and expenditures changes with relatively faster growth of age-and-gender-related social insurance program. Intergenerational redistributions across generations through federal government operations could substantially affect different generations' economic expectations and choices and exert powerful long-term effects on economic outcomes.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Health, Human Welfare, Markets, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:
United States

5. Incentives for Life: Cash-on-Delivery Aid for Tobacco Control in Developing Countries

Author:
Amanda Glassman and Thomas J. Bollyky
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Fewer people are smoking in the United States, Europe, and most of the developing world. Excise taxes, bans on smoking in public places, and graphic health warnings are achieving such dramatic reductions in tobacco use in developed countries that a recent Citigroup Bank investment analysis speculated that smoking could virtually disappear in wealthy countries over the next thirty to fifty years.
Topic:
Health and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

6. Bankrupt: Entitlements and the Federal Budget

Author:
Michael Tanner
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The U.S. government is about to exceed its statutory debt limit of $14.3 trillion. But that actually underestimates the size of the fiscal time bomb that this country is facing. If one considers the unfunded liabilities of programs such as Medicare and Social Security, the true national debt could run as high as $119.5 trillion.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Human Welfare, Financial Crisis, Governance, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
United States

7. Muslims in America: A Profile

Author:
Karam Dana
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The perception of Muslims living in the United States has deteriorated dramatically since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. U.S.-Muslims, a group that had already faced discrimination prior to the attacks, became even more visible to the public. Non-Muslim Americans began questioning American Muslim loyalties to the United States as well as their commitment to being “good” citizens. Such doubt extended to the political arena as well, prompting intrusive inquiries into Muslim-affiliated civic and political organizations and their members. Even non-Muslims with Muslim affiliations or Muslim- sounding names or appearances have been subject to public scrutiny. For example, despite identifying as a Christian, President Barack Obama's religious affiliation has been continually doubted by some due to his Kenyan Muslim heritage and his middle name, Hussein. Though a decade has passed since the events of September 11th, the role of American Muslims, and whether they can at all be trusted, remains a popular concern and a topic of household conversation.
Topic:
Security, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Islam, Religion, Terrorism, and Sectarianism
Political Geography:
United States and America

8. Women in Afghanistan: A Human Rights Tragedy Ten Years after 9/11

Author:
Hayat Alvi
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:
Ten years after the September 11th attacks in the United States and the military campaign in Afghanistan, there is some good news, but unfortunately still much bad news pertaining to women in Afghanistan. The patterns of politics, security/military operations, religious fanaticism, heavily patriarchal structures and practices, and ongoing insurgent violence continue to threaten girls and women in the most insidious ways. Although women's rights and freedoms in Afghanistan have finally entered the radar screen of the international community's consciousness, they still linger in the margins in many respects.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, Human Rights, Human Welfare, War, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States

9. Cultivating Global Food Security: A Strategy for U.S. Leadership on Productivity, Agricultural Research, and Trade

Author:
Kristin Wedding
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
In 2008, a complex combination of changes in demographics, food demand, and poor weather led to skyrocketing food prices around the world, prompting riots in dozens of countries, from Bangladesh to Burkina Faso. While prices have stabilized in developed countries, high prices in the rest of the world continue to limit both access to, and availability of, staple food items. The number of people living with chronic hunger has jumped to more than 1 billion people—one sixth of the world's population—and those trends show no signs of reversal: between 2007 and 2008, the number of people suffering from chronic hunger in the developing world increased by 80 million. In 2009, as many as 100 million additional people were pushed into a state of food insecurity. Continued high food prices and a global recession further exacerbate the rising numbers of food insecure people. Hunger has emerged as perhaps the most endangered Millennium Development Goal.
Topic:
Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and United States

10. Not Just Aid: How Making Government Work Can Transform Africa

Author:
Tony Blair
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Country ownership has become the new watchword in development. The problem for traditional donors is that ownership is too often code for convincing developing country governments to adopt the donors' agenda as their own: a way of securing influence without imposing conditionality. What is really needed is genuine country leadership. As President Obama said when he announced the United States' new development policy at the UN Millennium Development Goals summit in New York in September, “We will partner with countries that are willing to take the lead. Because the days when your development was dictated in foreign capitals must come to an end.”
Topic:
Development, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, New York, and United Nations

11. Tunisia–The Imprisonment of Fahem Boukadous (Part One of a series)

Author:
Rob Prince
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:
To most Americans with the exception of those few who, for whatever reason, have an attachment to the North African country of Tunisia, the name Fahem Boukadous, foreign to American ears, means nothing. It means a good deal more to "Reporters Without Borders” and to the US State Department that actually issued a statement (half way down the page) on his behalf, to the US intelligence agencies and military that have carefully followed the Spring, 2008 uprising in the Tunisian region of Gafsa–deemed the most extensive and militant social protest in that country's history in the past quarter century.
Topic:
Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Torture
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, America, Arabia, North Africa, and Tunisia

12. THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL HEALTH: Ingredients for a Bold Effective U.S. Initiative

Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
Major accomplishments in global health over the last decade demonstrate that adequately resourced programs, focused on achieving specific results, can improve health outcomes for millions and support economic progress. They also show that distinct public health challenges are closely interconnected and that a comprehensive and integrated strategy is needed to ensure that ambitious health goals are met.
Topic:
Globalization, Health, Human Welfare, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
United States

13. Halfway to Where? Answering the Key Questions of Health Care Reform

Author:
Michael Tanner
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Although neither the House nor the Senate passed a health care bill by President Obama's August deadline, various pieces of legislation have made it through committee, and they provide a concrete basis for analyzing what the proposed health care reform would and would not do. Looking at the various bills that are moving on Capitol Hill, we can determine the following: Contrary to the Obama administration's repeated assurances, millions of Americans who are happy with their current health insurance will not be able to keep it. As many as 89.5 million people may be dumped into a government-run plan. Some Americans may find themselves forced into a new insurance plan that no longer includes their current doctor. Americans will pay more than $820 billion in additional taxes over the next 10 years, and could see their insurance premiums rise as much as 95 percent. The current health care bills will increase the budget deficit by at least $239 billion over the next 10 years, and far more in the years beyond that. If the new health care entitlement were subject to the same 75-year actuarial standards as Social Security or Medicare, its unfunded liabilities would exceed $9.2 trillion. While the bills contain no direct provisions for rationing care, they nonetheless increase the likelihood of government rationing and interference with how doctors practice medicine. Contrary to assertions of some opponents, the bills contain no provision for euthanasia or mandatory end-of-life counseling. The bills' provisions on abortion coverage are far murkier.
Topic:
Government, Health, Human Welfare, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and America

14. Organ Sales and Moral Travails: Lessons from the Living Kidney Vendor Program in Iran

Author:
Benjamin E. Hippen
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Kidney transplantation in the United States is burdened by a terrible policy failure. The cost of this failure will be paid in the currency of years of human lives unnecessarily lost, as well as a massive increase in federal expenditures over the next decade and beyond. The number of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States has grown, but the supply of kidneys—for the preferred treatment for ESRD, kidney transplantation— has not kept pace with the demand. Unfortunately, the issue is not simply one of supply and demand: in the United States the supply of kidneys for transplantation is kept artificially low by a prohibition on the sale of human organs.
Topic:
Health, Human Welfare, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States, Iran, and Middle East

15. Has the Use of Physician Gatekeepers Declined among HMOs? Evidence from the United States

Author:
Hai Fang, Hong Liu, and John A. Rizzo
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
Since the mid-1980s, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) have grown rapidly in the United States. Despite initial successes in constraining health care costs, HMOs have come under increasing criticism due to their restrictive practices. To remain viable, this would seem to suggest that HMOs have to change at least some of these behaviors. However, there is little empirical evidence on how restrictive aspects of HMOs may be changing. The present study investigates one mechanism for constraining costs that is often associated with HMOs – the role of the primary care physician as a gatekeeper (e.g., monitoring patients' use of specialist physicians). In particular, we estimate the effect of primary care physician involvement with HMOs on the percentage of their patients for whom these physicians serve as gatekeepers. We examine these relationships over two time periods: 2000-2001 and 2004-2005. Because physicians can choose whether and to what extent they will participate in HMOs, we employ instrumental variables (IV) estimation to correct for endogeneity of the HMO measure. Although the single-equation estimates suggest that the role of HMOs in terms of requiring primary care physicians to serve as gatekeepers diminished modestly over time, the endogeneity-corrected estimates show no changes between the two time periods. Thus, one major tool used by HMOs to constrain health care costs – the physician as gatekeeper – has not declined even in the era of managed care backlash.
Topic:
Demographics, Health, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

16. A Comprehensive and Inclusive Peace Process for Chad

Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
Analysts, policy makers and experts are now accepting that the conflicts in Chad and Sudan have mutually reinforcing dynamics. Chad's internal political instability is having devastating consequences on the peace processes in Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR). The U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee Panel of Experts on Sudan stated that Chad supports Sudanese insurgent groups with arms, ammunition, vehicles, food, training and safe haven Violations of humanitarian law and international human rights continue unabated in the region and violators in eastern Chad operate in an environment of almost total impunity. A new U.S. Government strategy must be created to stabilize Chad and bring to an end the continued degradation of conditions in the region. This strategy must work in parallel with the peace process for Sudan and with the efforts led by the “Contact Group” to normalize Chad-Sudan relations.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Health, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, Peace Studies, United Nations, and War
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, and Sudan

17. Global Health Governance and Multi-Level Policy Coherence: Can the G8 Provide a Cure?

Author:
Heidi Ullrich
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
This paper highlights the ailing state of global health governance as evidenced by the lack of progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in particular the goals related to health. Policy coherence within the global health governance system is not evolving fast enough to ensure that trade and development issues related to public health, particularly concerning access to medicines, are effectively aligned at national, regional, and multilateral levels. The paper briefly reviews the WTO Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and the 2001 Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. A case study outlines the manner in which "TRIPS-plus" provisions in selected US free trade agreements (FTAs) have undermined multi-level policy coherence in trade, development, and public health. The discussion then identifies three unique governance mechanisms of the G8 that make the group a potentially powerful catalyst for innovation in global health governance, and assesses the opportunities that the 2008 G8 Hokkaido Summit may offer. The paper concludes by offering recommendations for enhancing multi-level policy coherence and for strengthening the system of global health governance.
Topic:
Globalization, Health, Human Welfare, International Cooperation, and International Organization
Political Geography:
United States

18. Immigration: Wages, Education and Mobility

Author:
Ron Haskins
Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The idea of economic mobility in America often evokes a personal story. For many Americans, it is one of immigrant parents or grandparents, or even one's own journey and arrival. In recent decades, immigration has been rising steadily, with nearly one million legal immigrants entering the country per year throughout the 1990s and in the early years of this century, compared to only about 300,000 per year in the 1960s. In addition to legal immigrants, it is estimated that about 500,000 illegal immigrants now arrive each year.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

19. US Policy on Small Arms Transfers: A Human Rights Perspective

Author:
Susan Waltz
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:
From Somalia and Afghanistan to Bosnia, Haiti, Colombia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Congo, small arms and light weapons were a common feature of the human rights calamities of the 1990's. More than a hundred low-intensity conflicts flared across the globe in that final decade of the bloodiest century, and virtually all of them were fought with small arms and light weaponry. Hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenades and bazookas, mortars, machine guns, and shoulder-fired missiles were the common weapons of warfare, along with the ubiquitous AK- 47--as readily slung over the shoulder of a 14 year old boy as a 40 year old man. Human rights and humanitarian organizations pondered the evidence: there was an inescapable linkage between the abuses they sought to curb, and the prevalence of these easy to handle, durable, and imminently portable weapons. In many instances the weapons were used as direct instruments of repression and devastation. In others, armed groups and government-sponsored militia used them to facilitate assaults with cruder weapons, spread fear, and create insecurity that effectively deprived people of their livelihood. Ironically, none of the countries in turmoil produced their own small arms. Behind the plethora of weapons lurked shadowy arms dealers looking for a profit, indifferent to the public's moral outrage and UN-imposed arms embargoes.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Bosnia, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and Somalia

20. Bolivia on the Brink

Author:
Eduardo A. Gamarra
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Since gaining independence from Spain in 1825, Bolivia has endured nearly two hundred coups and countercoups. Despite the establishment of comparatively democratic, civilian rule in Bolivia in 1982 through a system of “pacted democracy,” Bolivian leaders still face many of the same difficult problems as they did twenty years ago: deep-seated poverty, social exclusion of the indigenous and mestizo (of mixed racial ancestry) majority, and illegal drug production.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States, South America, Spain, and Bolivia

21. Inequality and Mortality: Long-Run Evidence from a Panel of Countries

Author:
Ricardo Hausmann and Edwin Lim
Publication Date:
07-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
We investigate whether changes in economic inequality affect mortality in rich countries. To answer this question we use a new source of data on income inequality: tax data on the share of pretax income going to the richest 10 percent of the population in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US between 1903 and 2003. Although this measure is not a good proxy for inequality within the bottom half of the income distribution, it is a good proxy for changes in the top half of the distribution and for the Gini coefficient. In the absence of country and year fixed effects, the income share of the top decile is negatively related to life expectancy and positively related to infant mortality. However, in our preferred fixed-effects specification these relationships are weak, statistically insignificant, and likely to change their sign. Nor do our data suggest that changes in the income share of the richest 10 percent affect homicide or suicide rates.
Topic:
International Relations, Globalization, Health, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, Ireland, and New Zealand

22. Using the Earned Income Tax Credit to Stimulate Local Economies

Author:
Alan Berube
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Over the 30 years of its existence the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has been described variously as a wage supplement, a program to reduce tax burdens, an antipoverty tool, a welfare-to-work program, and a form of labor market insurance. The program has enjoyed expansions under both Republican and Democratic administrations, and in 2006, the EITC will provide more than $40 billion to low-income working families. The credit lifts nearly 5 million Americans above the poverty line each year. Moreover, because the EITC aids only those families with earnings from work, researchers have credited it with raising labor force participation levels and helping families transition from welfare to work.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and America

23. Kids in the City: Indicators of Child Well-Being in Large Cities from the 2004 American Community Survey

Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Conditions for children living in large cities are worse than those for children nationwide on most measures of well-being. Children growing up in large cities are at greater risk of dropping out of school, living with parents who are not in the labor force, and residing in single-parent families. Children in large cities are twice as likely as children nationwide to have difficulty speaking English (10 percent compared with 5 percent), creating potential barriers for children in school and for young adults who are entering the labor market. As a reflection of these underlying disadvantages, in 2004, more than one-fourth of children in large cities lived in poverty.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States

24. Bearing the Brunt: Manufacturing Job Loss in the Great Lakes Region, 1995-2005

Author:
Howard Wial and Alec Friedhoff
Publication Date:
07-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Analysis of manufacturing employment and production in seven Great Lakes states and their metropolitan areas from 1995 through 2005 finds that: More than one-third of the nation's loss of manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2005 occurred in seven Great Lakes states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Between 1995 and 2005, the United States lost more than 3 million manufacturing jobs. Nearly all of this job loss occurred during the last five years, and 37.5 percent of the loss occurred in the seven Great Lakes states. Michigan lost the most manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2005 (nearly 218,000), followed by Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Despite these job losses, manufacturing remains a major driver of the nation's economy and the economy of the Great Lakes region. Because productivity was higher in manufacturing than in other sectors of the economy, in 2004, manufacturing accounted for a higher share of gross state product than its share of employment, both nationwide and in six of the seven states in the Great Lakes manufacturing belt. In addition, productivity in the manufacturing sector increased by 38 percent between 1997 and 2004, a much higher increase than the 24.4 percent growth in productivity for all non-farm businesses during that same time period. Manufacturing job losses were pervasive in Great Lakes metropolitan areas. All but one of the 25 largest manufacturing-dependent metropolitan areas in the Great Lakes region lost manufacturing jobs during the last decade (1995–2005), often at a faster rate than the United States as a whole. Chicago and Detroit lost the most manufacturing jobs in the last five years (over 100,000 jobs each), while Canton, OH, and Flint, MI, lost the greatest shares of manufacturing employment. The metropolitan areas in which manufacturing employment peaked between 1995 and 1997 tended to experience more severe manufacturing job losses between 1995 and 2005 than those in which manufacturing peaked later. The 13 metropolitan areas where manufacturing employment peaked between 1995 and 1997 saw an average 26.8 percent decline in manufacturing employment between 1995 and 2005. In the other 11 metropolitan areas where manufacturing employment peaked later, between 1998 and 2000, the average metropolitan area lost 18.9 percent of its manufacturing jobs during the decade. Manufacturing job losses were a major reason for slow overall job growth, and sometimes overall job losses, in Great Lakes metropolitan areas. Furthermore, employment gains in high-wage advanced service industries, which occurred in all but one of the 25 metropolitan areas studied, were not large enough to offset the loss of manufacturing jobs in most areas.
Topic:
Civil Society, Demographics, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States, New York, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan

25. Where Did They Go? The Decline of Middle-Income Neighborhoods in Metropolitan America

Author:
George Galster, Jackie Cutsinger, and Jason C. Booza
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Middle-income families, the icon of the American Dream, have become a somewhat less prominent part of the American demographic profile over the last quartercentury. Numerous researchers have documented how growing economic inequality in the U.S., characterized by an increasing bifurcation of the income distribution, has slowed the growth of a once-broad American middle class.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States and America

26. Comprehensive Services for Survivors of Human Trafficking: Findings from Clients in Three Communities

Author:
Laudan Y. Aron, Janine M. Zweig, and Lisa C. Newmark
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Humans are trafficked across international borders for the purposes of labor exploitation (e.g., domestic servitude, sweatshops) or sexual exploitation (e.g., forced prostitution) and the victims are subjected to coercion, fraud, abuse, or some other form of deception on the part of the traffickers. The Department of State (2004, 2006) estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 people—adults and children—are trafficked across international borders around the world annually. About 90 percent of these victims are females and over half of all those trafficked each year are believed to be trafficked for sexual exploitation. Among those trafficked, about 14,500 to 17,500 are trafficked into the United States each year. Recent data show that victims are often trafficked by perpetrators of the same nationality (Free the Slaves and Human Rights Center 2004).
Topic:
Crime, Gender Issues, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

27. The Rise of Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh

Author:
Sumit Ganguly
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Bangladesh has generally been heralded as a stable, democratic Muslim state that has made great strides in economic and human development. Following the restoration of democracy in 1990, it carried out three largely free and fair general elections in 1991, 1996, and 2001. Since 1999, attacks by Islamist militants have been increasing. They have targeted opposition politicians, scholars, journalists, members of the judiciary, religious minorities, and members of the Islamic Ahmadiyya sect. Recent years have seen a deepening crisis in governance with continued politicization of civil society, deterioration of judicial independence, and diminishing rule of law and respect for human rights. Until very recently, the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia (backed by two Islamist parties) denied the existence of Islamist militancy in Bangladesh, dismissing these charges as “hostile propaganda,” designed to besmirch the country's reputation. Following a countryside terrorist attack in August 2005 and recent suicide bombings, the government has begun cracking down on selected individuals. Indian observers and policymakers are concerned about the activities of Bangladeshi Islamists. They accuse Dhaka of exacerbating the ongoing insurgencies in India's Northeast by turning a blind eye to growing illegal immigration. They also contend that Bangladesh is cooperating with Pakistan to target India. In light of these developments, questions persist about the government's dedication to respond decisively to Islamist terrorism, conduct free and fair elections in 2007, and address the deterioration in the rule of law and respect for human rights. Because of Bangladesh's regional importance and the implications of internal security developments, the United States has limited policy options to promote its regional goals and ensure democratic elections.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Human Welfare, and Religion
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and United States

28. Measures of Food Insecurity at the Household Level

Author:
Prasanta K. Pattanaik, Craig Gundersen, and Indranil Dutta
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Food insecurity and hunger have traditionally been measured by aggregate food supplies or by variables correlated with food insecurity. Because these measures often poorly reflect individuals' true deprivation, economists have turned to surveys with direct questions about food insecurity. Using these surveys, households have then been classified into broad categories, a classification system which ignores the richness of the multiple questions. In this paper, we propose food insecurity measures, along the lines of the well established poverty measures, which incorporates this richness and allow us to reflect the depth and severity, in addition to the incidence, of food insecurity. Using these indices, we calculate the extent of food insecurity and hunger in the United States. Along with giving a richer picture of food insecurity in the US, these food insecurity measures demonstrates that the ordering of various demographic categories differs depends on the choice of measure.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States

29. Firm Structure, Multinationals, and Manufacturing Plant Deaths

Author:
J. Bradford Jensen and Andrew B. Bernard
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Plant shutdowns shape industry productivity, the dynamics of employment, and industrial restructuring. Plant closures account for more than half of gross job destruction in US manufacturing. This paper examines the effects of firm structure on US manufacturing plant closures. Plants belonging to multi-plant firms and those owned by US multinationals are less likely to exit. However, the superior survival chances are due to the characteristics of the plants rather than the nature of the firms. Controlling for plant and industry attributes, we find that plants owned by multi-unit firms and US multinationals are much more likely to close.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
United States

30. Afghan Update: April 1 - April 30, 2006

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
A senior U.S. State Department official said on April 3 that more violence was expected in the coming months. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher reaffirmed the opinion of some U.S. military leaders that the warmer months and the increased presence of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops would signal a stepped up effort by insurgents to disrupt peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts. Boucher also cited the battle against narcotics traffickers as cause for increased fighting.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States and Asia

31. Terrorism Statistics Flawed

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
It has become a truism that any attempt to define or quantify terrorism is informed by political trends, and thus subject to fluctuations based not on hard facts but on political fashion. Yet the State Department's now defunct annual publication, Patterns of Global Terrorism, was the closest approximation of any government effort to provide information in an objective and consistent manner. As a successor to Patterns, the report produced by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) – called A Chronology of Significant International Terrorism for 2004--effectively ends over 20 years of analytical consistency in the U.S. government's terrorism accounting practices.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

32. Afghan Update: Jan. 1 - Feb. 7, 2006

Author:
Francis Rheinheimer
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Four U.S. soldiers were killed on Feb. 13 when their vehicle hit a bomb in central Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. It was the deadliest single-day loss of American troops since September, when five died in a helicopter crash.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States

33. Low Intensity Conflict: Violence Against the Iraqi People

Author:
Bill Elliot and Anna R. Wittman
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
In early 2005, Kurt M. Campbell, Director of CSIS' International Security Program, accompanied Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on a trip to Asia. Enroute, the Secretary and several of his close aides expressed an interest in learning more about the future of missile defenses in East Asia and the Subcontinent. Although familiar with the missile defense policies of countries in the region, they were concerned about how those policies were being implemented, whether the various national efforts were complementary or counterproductive, and how those efforts might affect the US approach to missile defense architecture.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Civil Society, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia

34. Bans, Tests and Alchemy: Food Safety Standards and Ugandan Fish Export

Author:
Stefano Ponte
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Fish exports are the second largest foreign exchange earner in Uganda. When Uganda's fish export industry started to operate in the late 1980s and early 1990s, one may have thought that fish was being turned into gold. From an export value of just over one million US$ in 1990, the mighty Nile Perch had earned the country over 45 million US$ just six years later. But alchemy proved to be more than the quest of the philosophers' stone to change base metals into gold. From 1997 to 2000, the industry experienced a series of import bans, imposed by the EU on grounds of food safety. Despite claims to the contrary, the EU did not provide scientific proof that fish was actually 'unsafe'. Rather, the poor performance of Uganda's regulatory and monitoring system was used as a justification. The 'system', as the characters of an allegory, has no individual personality and is the embodiment of the moral qualities that 'the consumer' expects from 'responsible operators' in the fish sector. Only by fixing this system of regulations and inspections, and by performing the ritual of laboratory testing did the Ugandan industry regain its status as a 'safe' source of fish. Fish exports now earn almost 90 million US$ to the country. This apparent success story was achieved by a common front comprising government authorities and the processing industry, a high level of private-public collaboration not often seen in East Africa. Yet, important chunks of the regulatory and monitoring system exist only on paper. Furthermore, the system is supposed to achieve a series of contradictory objectives: to facilitate efficient logistics and ensure food safety; to match market demand and take care of sustainability; to implement a top-down food safety monitoring system and a bottom-up fisheries co-management system. This means that at least some food safety-related operations have to be carried out as 'rituals of verification'. Given the importance of microbiological tests and laboratories in the food safety compliance system, alchemic rituals are perhaps a more appropriate metaphor. While the white coats and advanced machinery of present-day alchemists reassure insecure European regulators and consumers, it leaves the Ugandan fish industry in a vulnerable position. In Uganda, fish can now be turned into gold again – but for how long?
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, United States, and East Africa

35. Growth in the Exclusion of Employer Health Premiums

Author:
Adam Carasso
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The single largest tax expenditure in the federal budget is the employer exclusion of contributions for medical insurance premiums and medical care from employee income taxes. In fiscal year 2005, the Office of Management and Budget estimates this exclusion is worth $112 billion. If the payroll tax exclusion component were also counted here, the total would be significantly higher. (For details, please see Len Burman, Cori Uccello, Laura Wheaton, and Deborah Kobes, ''Tax Incentives for Health Insurance,'' Discussion Paper No. 12, Washington, DC: The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, May 2003.)
Topic:
Economics, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

36. The Millennium Challenge Account: Moving Toward Smarter Aid

Author:
Lex Rieffel and James W. Fox
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) proposed by President George W. Bush in March 2002 is an important step toward smarter US assistance to low-income countries. While it cannot yet be said to represent a revolution in development assistance, it is a welcome experiment and merits substantial funding by the Congress.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

37. U.S. Foreign Assistance to Africa: Claims vs. Reality

Author:
Susan E. Rice
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The Bush Administration has significantly increased aid to Africa, but that increase falls far short of what the President has claimed. U.S. aid to Africa from FY 2000 (the last full budget year of the Clinton Administration) to FY2004 (the last completed fiscal year of the Bush Administration) has not "tripled" or even doubled. Rather, in real dollars, it has increased 56% (or 67% in nominal dollar terms). The majority of that increase consists of emergency food aid, rather than assistance for sustainable development of the sort Africa needs to achieve lasting poverty reduction.
Topic:
International Relations and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

38. CATO Institute: Aging America's Achilles' Heel: Medicaid Long-Term Care

Author:
Stephen A. Moses
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Seventy-seven million aging baby boomers will sink America's retirement security system if we don't take action soon. A few years ago, the problem went unrecognized by most Americans. Today, the prospect of a fiscal crisis has forced policymakers to focus on solutions.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States and America

39. CATO Institute: Medicaid's Unseen Costs

Author:
Michael F. Cannon
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Medicaid occupies a special place among government programs for the poor. Public support for Medicaid is broader and deeper than for other safety net programs because the consequences of inadequate medical care can be much more immediate and severe than those of a lack of money or even food.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

40. CATO Institute: Treating Doctors as Drug Dealers: The DEA's War on Prescription Painkillers

Author:
Ronald T. Libby
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The medical field of treating chronic pain is still in its infancy. It was only in the late 1980s that leading physicians trained in treating the chronic pain of terminally ill cancer patients began to recommend that the "opioid therapy" (treatment involving narcotics related to opium) used on their patients also be used for patients suffering from nonterminal conditions. The new therapies proved successful, and prescription pain medications saw a huge leap in sales throughout the 1990s. But opioid therapy has always been controversial. The habit-forming nature of some prescription pain medications made many physicians, medical boards, and law enforcement officials wary of their use in treating acute pain in nonterminal patients. Consequently, many physicians and pain specialists have shied away from opioid treatment, causing millions of Americans to suffer from chronic pain even as therapies were available to treat it.
Topic:
Crime, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States and America

41. CATO Institute: Health Care in a Free Society: Rebutting the Myths of National Health Insurance

Author:
John C. Goodman
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Almost everyone agrees that the U.S. health care system is in dire need of reform. But there are differing opinions on what kind of reform would be best. Some on the political left would like to see us copy one of the government-run “single-payer”systems that exist in Western Europe, Canada, and New Zealand, among other places. Proponents of socialized medicine point to other countries as examples of health care systems that are superior to our own. They insist that government will make health care available on the basis of need rather than ability to pay. The rich and poor will have equal access to care. And more serious medical needs will be given priority over less serious needs.
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Canada, and New Zealand

42. Iran: What Does Ahmadi-Nejad's Victory Mean?

Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The surprise election of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, who is being sworn in as president this week, has given rise to dire predictions about Iran's domestic and foreign policies and relations with the U.S. and the European Union. There are reasons for concern. Based on his rhetoric, past performance, and the company he keeps, Ahmadi-Nejad appears a throwback to the revolution's early days: more ideological, less pragmatic, and anti- American. But for the West, and the U.S. in particular, to reach and act upon hasty conclusions would be wrong. Iran is governed by complex institutions and competing power centres that inherently favour continuity over change. More importantly , none of the fundamentals has changed: the regime is not about to collapse; it holds pivotal cards on Iraq and nuclear proliferation; and any chance of modifying its behaviour will come, if at all, through serious, coordinated EU and U.S. efforts to engage it.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Iran, and Middle East

43. Swaziland: The Clock Is Ticking

Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Swaziland has been an absolute monarchy for more than 30 years, with a royal leadership that ignores worsening social ills and a small elite that is often openly corrupt. A new constitution that further codifies broad royal powers and privileges is in the final stages of preparation. Political violence is still more talked about than actual but frustration is building. Multilateral African institutions, the EU and key countries like South Africa and the U.S. have been too willing to accept the royalists' line that any change must come very slowly. More pressure from the outside is needed to help pro-reform elements inside the country bring back a constitutional monarchy and genuine democracy that are the best guarantees Swazi instability will not eventually infect the region.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, South Africa, and Swaziland

44. Africa Action Talking Points on North-South Peace Agreement in Sudan

Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
On Sunday, January 9, African leaders and world diplomats will gather in Nairobi, Kenya to witness the signing of an historic peace deal intended to end Africa's longest-running civil war. This conflict between the Sudanese government in the north and the Sudan People's Liberation Army /Movement (SPLA/M) in southern Sudan has raged for m o re than two decades. Sunday's signing ceremony marks the culmination of two years of form al peace talks and many years of periodic negotiations, sustained by regional and international diplomacy. The signing of this peace deal could mark an historic moment for Sudan, by bringing to an end decades of violence and devastation in Africa's largest country. It could similarly mark an important moment for the entire African continent. However, this peace agreement does not cover the ongoing conflict in Darfur, western Sudan, where the Sudanese government continues to wage a campaign of genocide against civilians from three ethnic groups. Over the past two years, up to 400,000 people have died, and 2 million more have been made homeless in Darfur as a consequence resulting in what the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Topic:
Human Welfare and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, United States, Sudan, and Nairobi

45. A Silent Tsunami: The Urgent Need for Clean Water and Sanitation

Author:
William K. Reilly and Harriet C. Babbitt
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Few issues matter more to public health, economic opportunity, and environmental integrity than the availability of clean water and sanitation. With the 4th World Water Forum scheduled for Mexico City in March 2006, the Aspen Institute and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University conducted a multistakeholder dialogue to help highlight the importance of global water issues, suggest steps to provide services more rapidly and effectively, and to identify and draw attention to constructive ways the US government and other US participants can take part in the Forum.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

46. Multilateral Market-Access Reforms of the Doha Round: A Preliminary Assessment of Implications for EU Agricultural Trade

Author:
Wusheng Yu and Hans G. Jensen
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
The July package of the Doha Round of trade negotiations stipulates that a tiered-formula approach should be used to significantly reduce market access barriers across countries, implying that the EU would have to make larger cuts to its high external tariffs, in comparison with many other WTO members such as the US. This paper provides a preliminary assessment of the likely impact of the tiered-formula reform approach on EU agricultural sectors. Numerical simulations of a multilateral market-access reform scenario show that such cuts would lead to across-the-board decreases in intra-EU trade flows, as compared with a baseline projection. While intra-EU trade flows would decrease, the EU's trade with the rest of the world would increase. Yet such increases would not be symmetric – imports into the EU would increase more than exports, resulting in larger external trade deficits or smaller external trade surpluses in many EU agricultural products. Further, the resulting adjustments in member states' production and net trade positions are not equal: the new member states would generally lose part of their export shares in the EU market to external competitors, as highlighted in the cases of bovine meat and dairy products.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

47. US Trade Policy in 2005

Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Some time ago, Fred Bergsten and I were talking about the fact that, if trade liberalization is to move forward and retrogression is to be prevented, the focus of the policy community and the public on the benefits of trade-in the full sense, including imports-and on the issues around trade needs to increase. The adverse effects trade has on some people are very keenly felt and often lead to vociferous opposition, while the benefits of trade for a far greater number of people are diffuse and usually little if at all understood-for example, by consumers-and seldom generate political activity on behalf of trade.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States

48. Current List of Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Other Terrorist Organizations

Author:
Mark Burgess
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
The U.S. State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) began in 1997 as a method of tracking down and striking back against specific terrorist groups around the world. FTOs are designated as such based on a demonstrated capability and/or willingness to engage in terrorist methods that threaten the U.S. national security interests. These methods include attacks on U.S. nationals, and American national defense, military, diplomatic, and economic interests. The FTO list provides the U.S. government with the legal authority to conduct prosecutions against U.S. citizens, or foreign nationals within the country, for aiding — financially, ideologically or logistically — any designated FTO. FTO designation can also mean certain members or representatives of the designated terror group can be denied entry to the United States through visa rejection or other means. The United States also maintains the authority to compel U.S. financial institutions to freeze any assets linked to an FTO and to report them to the U.S. Department of the Treasury pursuant to Executive Order 13244.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

49. Refugees, Security and Development: Current Experience and Strategies of Protection and Assistance in 'The Region of Origin'

Author:
Finn Steppulat
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
On the background of the recently increased political interest in protecting and assisting refugees in their 'regions of origin' this working paper lays out a conceptual framework for analyzing the strategies, conditions and options for support to refugees areas in neighboring countries to countries in conflict. In particular relations between security–or the 'securitization of refugees'–and development and local integration are discussed. The working paper identifies the confinement and lack of freedom of movement of refugees as the major obstacle to local, or rather regional, integration of refugees. Finally, the working paper makes recommendations for action and research in relation to the strategy of protecting and assisting refugees close to the countries they have left.
Topic:
Development, Human Welfare, Migration, and Third World
Political Geography:
United States

50. Race, Ethnicity, and Health

Author:
Kenneth Finegold and Laura Wherry
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), combined with many states' decisions to expand Medicaid eligibility, increased public coverage of black, white, and Hispanic children between 1997 and 2002. Uninsurance rates fell among children in low-income white, black, and Hispanic families, remained constant among white and black children in higher-income families, and increased among Hispanic children in higher-income families. The health status of children, as reported by their parents, was stable for blacks, whites, and Hispanics, except for a decline in health among higher-income Hispanic children.
Topic:
Demographics, Health, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States

51. Prostitution and Sex Crimes

Author:
Kirby R. Cundiff
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
In this paper I examine the hypothesis that the frequency of rape is increased when another source of sex (prostitution) is limited or unavailable. To test this theory I regressed the rape rate in available OECD countries against a proxy for the availability of prostitution and, to remove the general propensity for violence in the society, against the homicide rate and the availability of prostitution. The one variable regression model was anti-correlated with borderline significance. In the multiple regression model the rape rate was shown to be correlated with the homicide rate and anti-correlated with the availability of prostitution. Both relationships were at above the 95% confidence level. It is estimated that if prostitution were legalized in the United States, the rape rate would decrease by roughly 25% for a decrease of approximately 25,000 rapes per year.
Topic:
Crime, Gender Issues, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

52. Monitoring the presidential debates: Post-debate panels did not focus on hard issues

Author:
Senja Post
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Media Tenor International
Abstract:
After the third debate, network and cable news commentators and their expert guests differed in their opinions on who did better, after having been largely in agreement after the first and second debate. Media Tenor's Slant -o- meter analyzed the commentary following the debate on six TV channels. While ABC and NBC were moderate in their ratings of Kerry and Bush, CBS, FOX, CNN and PBS commentators were more vocal about their dislikes for one or the other of the candidates. Fox News presented the most favorable coverage of George W. Bush's performance and the most negative comments on John Kerry. While positive reports on Bush exceeded negative reports by almost 43%, the coverage of Kerry had an overall negative balance of 15%. Similarly, PBS's commentary featured 6.6% more positive than negative statements on Bush, while , on balance, comments on Kerry were 13% more negative.
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

53. Well Being and Unemployment in Russian in the 1990's: Can Society's Suffering Be Individuals' Solace?

Author:
Andrew; Gaddy Eggers
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
This paper studies the effect of regional unemployment rates on subjective well-being in post-Soviet Russia. Research conducted in Europe and the United States has documented that higher unemployment rates lead to lower reported life-satisfaction. By contrast, our Russian study finds a small but significant effect in the other direction. We estimate that du ring the period of our study (1995-2001), each percentage point increase in the local unemployment rate was correlated with the average well-being of people in the region increasing by an amount equivalent to moving 2% of the population up one level in life satisfaction measured on a five-point scale. Our intuition is that the so-called comparison effect drives this result: when individuals observe their peers suffering in a troubled economy, they lower their standards of what is good enough. All else equal, they thus perceive themselves to be better off in worse times. In highlighting the dependence of subjective well-being scores on expectations and reference groups, we sound a note of caution against using happiness data from economies in crisis to draw macroeconomic policy conclusions.
Topic:
Economics and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union

54. The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways

Author:
Audrey Singer
Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The United States is in the midst of a wave of unprecedented immigration. Immigrants comprised 11.1 percent of the U.S. population in 2000. During the 1990s alone, the foreign-born population grew by 11.3 million, or 57.4 percent, bringing the Census 2000 count of immigrants to 31.1 million. The rapidity of this influx, coupled with its sheer size, means that American society will con- front momentous social, cultural, and political change during the coming decades and generations.
Topic:
Demographics, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

55. CATO Institute: Implementing Welfare Reform: A State Report Card

Author:
Jenifer Zeigler
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
In 1996 the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was signed into law, and the nation waited to see if welfare reform would truly “end welfare as we know it.” Block grant funding and administrative devolution gave the states a chance to move beyond pilot programs and prove that they could transition people off welfare more efficiently and effectively than the federal government. As a result, caseloads have dropped by more than half.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

56. CATO Institute: Health Care Regulation: A $169 Billion Hidden Tax

Author:
Christopher J. Conover
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Students of regulation have known for decades that the burden of regulation on the U.S. economy is sizable, with the latest figures suggesting this cost may approach $1 trillion in 2004. Surprisingly, given that the health industry is often viewed as among the most heavily regulated sectors of the U.S. economy, previous estimates generally have ignored the cost of regulating health care services.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

57. Drug Reimportation: The Free Market Solution

Author:
Roger Pilon
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
As modern "miracle drugs" play a growing role in medical practice, drug prices in America soar far beyond prices in the rest of the world. Yet our law prohibits Americans from buying American-made drugs abroad at those prices and "reimporting" them to the United States. That has led many Americans, and even some state and local officials, to ignore the law and go to Canada and Mexico for their drugs; to the passage in the House last year of a bill lifting the ban on reimportation; and to similar bills now in the Senate—legislation that Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson recently called "inevitable."
Topic:
Human Welfare, International Trade and Finance, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States, America, Canada, and Mexico

58. South Africa's War against Malaria: Lessons for the Developing World

Author:
Roger Bate and Richard Tren
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Malaria imposes enormous human suffering and economic costs on many poor countries. For South Africa, which has a relatively minor malaria problem for a developing country, from 2000 to 2002 the economic cost ranged between US$15 million and US$41 million, excluding estimates of the human suffering and estimates of lost investment in malarial areas..
Topic:
Economics, Environment, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

59. "Compassionate Conservatism" Comes to Africa

Author:
Salih Booker and Ann-Louise Colgan
Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
The Bush administration's foreign policy priorities over the past year have left Africa worse off in a variety of ways. America's pre- occupation with the “war on terrorism” and its military misadventure in Iraq have distracted attention and resources, injuring Africa politically and economically. The White House has turned the continent into geostrategic real estate, defining its value in terms of access to oil and military bases, and viewing U S -Africa relations again through a cold - war -like lens. More broadly, to the extent that American actions have undermined the very notion of multilateralism, they remain directly at odds with Africa's interests. Africa's priorities—in particular, the fight against HIV / AIDS and poverty—are being ignored, and U S unilateralism threatens to undercut international cooperation.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, Iraq, and America

60. Questions on Africa Policy for Candidates Policymakers

Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
As the U.S. enters an important election season with a greater focus than usual on foreign policy issues, Africa remains largely absent from the national debate. Despite historical ties and important current interests, Africa is still considered to fall outside the scope of U.S. policymakers' concerns.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Human Welfare, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

61. Africa's Debt Iraq's Debt - Washington's Double Standard

Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
This week when the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) hold their annual spring meetings in Washington, DC, Africa's debt crisis will hardly appear on their agenda.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, Iraq, Washington, Middle East, and Arabia

62. Africa Policy Outlook 2004

Author:
Salih Booker and Ann-Louise Colgan
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
The U.S.' Africa policy will continue to be characterized by a duplicity that has emerged as the principal hallmark of the Bush Administration approach to the continent. On the one hand, Africa's priorities are being marginalized and undermined by a U.S. foreign policy preoccupied with other parts of the world. On the other hand, the Bush White House is callously manipulating Africa, claiming to champion the continent's needs with its compassionate conservative agenda.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Poverty, and War
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

63. The Role of Health in the Fight against International Poverty

Author:
Lael Brainard
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
The end of the Cold War and disillusionment with aid's many failures led to widespread aid fatigue among donors during the 1990s. Total official development assistance (ODA) as a share of donor GDP fell by one third over the decade (from 0.32 to 0.22 percent). This was particularly pronounced in the United States, where a slash-and-burn approach reduced foreign economic assistance to just over one half of 1 percent of budget outlays, compared with over 3 percent at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. And U.S. per capita spending fell to last place among donor nations, ending the decade at $29, far below the average of $70.
Topic:
Development, Human Welfare, International Organization, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States and Cuba

64. The Age of Welfare: Patronage, Citizenship, and Generational Justice in Social Policy

Author:
Julia Lynch
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
Welfare states' redistribution of resources across classes, occupations, and genders is the subject of intensive scholarly analysis. Yet we know very little about how and why welfare states treat different age groups differently. This article demonstrates that seniors' demand for welfare does not determine age-orientation. Rather, the “age of welfare” is a largely unintended consequence of the interaction between the structure of social policies and the way that politicians use these programs to compete for votes. An implication for the policy feedback literature is that constituency demand may be less important than the unintended consequences of welfare state institutions.
Topic:
Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

65. The United States, the European Union, and International Human Rights Issues

Author:
Esther Brimmer
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Transatlantic Relations
Abstract:
As pillars of the transatlantic community, the United States and the European Union often talk about their shared values derived from their common heritage in the western liberal democratic tradition. Both claim to base their domestic and external policies on their values; and both play a role in international affairs. Their common values suggest that they would support similar policies on international human rights issues. Yet on the international stage they have surprisingly different approaches. This paper will analyze areas of commonality and divergence in United States and European Union policies on international human rights and examine the implications of these differences for human rights and for transatlantic relations.
Topic:
Human Rights, Human Welfare, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

66. On the Frontline of an Epidemic: The Need for Urgency in Russia's Fight Against AIDS

Author:
John E. Tedstrom
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
AIDS is a global threat that affects us all. Its destructive reach extends far beyond the sphere of public health, threatening social stability, economic performance, and national security. The United States has struggled with HIV/AIDS for over 20 years. At least 440,000 Americans have died from AIDS -related conditions, many more than would have if American political leaders had acted early in the 1980s to confront the epidemic in its initial stages. Over time, however, the commitment of the U.S. government to prevent the spread of HIV and treat people living with HIV/AIDS produced remarkable results. New infections have dropped from 150,000 per year to 40,000 per year, and AIDS -related deaths have been cut in half.
Topic:
Security, Human Welfare, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, America, Europe, and Asia

67. Health Insurance Coverage of Children in Mixed-Status Immigrant Families

Author:
Randy Capps, Genevieve M. Kenney, and Michael E. Fix
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Public health insurance coverage increased—and rates of uninsurance decreased—between 1999 and 2002 among two groups of low-income, U.S. citizen children: those with parents who are native or naturalized U.S. citizens and those with at least one immigrant parent who is not a U.S. citizen (referred to as mixed-status families). The improvements followed efforts on the part of the states and the federal government to expand coverage of children under Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the introduction of policies directed at improving Medicaid and SCHIP access for immigrant and non-English-speaking families. Nonetheless, more than one in five citizen children in low-income mixed-status families remained uninsured in 2002—a rate 74 percent higher than that of children with citizen parents.
Topic:
Health, Human Welfare, Migration, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States

68. Individual Unemployment Accounts

Author:
Lawrence Brunner and Stephen M. Colarelli
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
The unemployment compensation system in the United States is out of date and in trouble. The system has four fundamental problems: (1) during recessions, it often cannot meet its financial obligations without federal aid or deficit spending; (2) it is out of step with the structural and cultural realities of the modern workforce; (3) it encourages layoffs and unemployment; and (4) it operates in isolation from other programs related to employment and financial security. We propose an alternative unemployment policy based on the individual unemployment account (IUA). The IUA would be a mandatory and portable individual trust to which the employer and employee contributed. It shifts control and responsibility from the employer and the state government to the employer and the employee, and it is compatible with the realities of a twenty-first-century economy. We begin by providing an overview of how the current unemployment insurance system works and discussing its problems. We then describe an alternative unemployment policy based on IUAs and discuss the benefits of such a policy.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

69. The Underground Railroad In South Central Pennsylvania

Author:
Matthew Pinsker and Scott Hancock
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues
Abstract:
"Among historians," one scholar suggested just a few years ago, "the underground railroad has become a dead issue." As if to confirm that judgment, the most important recent study of runaway slaves contains only two index entries for the Underground Railroad. The authors of that widely acclaimed monograph, John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger, are candid about the reasons for this decision. "Although historians continue to disagree about various aspects of the Underground Railroad," they write, "few deny that even today it is shrouded in myth and legend."
Topic:
Human Rights and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

70. Living at the Edge: America's Low-Income Children and Families

Author:
Hsien-Hen Lu, Younghwan Song, Mary Clare Lennon, and J. Lawrence Aber
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University
Abstract:
By analyzing data from the Current Population Survey March Supplements, Living at the Edge explores the following questions about children in low-income families in the United States: What are the overall changes in the low-income and poverty rates for children over the past quarter century? How has the population of children in low-income families changed over the past decade? Which children are more likely to live in low-income families? How have changes in parental employment status affected the likelihood of children living in low-income families? What are the state by state variations in child low-income and poverty rates, and how have these changed in the last decade? How does a more inclusive definition of family income and expenses affect our understanding of the poverty and near-poverty rates of children in low-income families? This report helps document significant improvements in the child lowincome rate as well as the significant decrease in the proportion of children who relied on public assistance during the 1990s. However, Living at the Edge also finds a notable increase in the share of children who lived in near-poor families (those with incomes between 100 and 200 percent of the poverty line) among children in low-income families during the 1990s. Many disadvantaged groups of children, including those with young parents, minority parents, parents with limited education, or unmarried parents, were less likely to live in poor or lowincome families in the late 1990s than such children a decade earlier. The improvement in the child low-income rates of these disadvantaged groups was closely related to an increase in parental employment during the late 1990s. However, the low-income rate worsened for children whose more educated parent had a high-school diploma but no college education. For children of many disadvantaged social groups, parental employment appears to do less to protect them from economic hardship then it did a decade earlier. The groups that suffered the most in reduced economic security given parental employment status were those in the medium risk ranks (children in families with at least one parent between ages 25 to 39, children whose more educated parent had only has a high school diploma, and in father-only families). The report also notes that the official measure of poverty ignores the burden of medical and work related expenses as well as taxes and therefore tends to underestimate the share of children in near-poor and low-income families facing economic insecurity. Finally, we discuss the policy implications for our findings.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States

71. Factional Politics and Credit Networks in Revolutionary Vermont

Author:
Henning Hillmann
Publication Date:
01-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University
Abstract:
Studies of state formation tend to emphasize the demise of localism through centralization. This article specifies empirically the social structural conditions that strengthen localism understate formation. The historical case is the creation of Vermont during the Revolutionary War and the local factionalism it involved. Probate records are used to reconstruct credit networks that provided the relational foundation for localism and factional identities. The evidence demonstrates that network segregation between factional regions intensified over time, and was supported by strong cohesion within these regions. Local brokers who forged cohesion within factions consistently attained important political offices while mediators between opposing factions increasingly failed to obtain offices. This structural process coincided with the shift of Vermont's domestic politics into national level conflicts between Federalists and Jeffersonians. Within this escalation local and national factions crystallized around equivalent pairs of binary categorical oppositions. T h e evocation of national politics directly resonated with local lines of conflict, and reinforced factional identities and localism.
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, Politics, and War
Political Geography:
United States

72. SARS: Down But Still a Threat

Publication Date:
08-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
This Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) was requested by Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson and Ambassador Jack Chow, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Health Affairs. It highlights the evolution of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the potential implications of the disease for the United States under several scenarios; this paper does not attempt to provide a scientific assessment of the epidemiology of SARS. Even though SARS has infected and killed far fewer people than other common infectious diseases such as influenza, malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS, it has had a disproportionately large economic and political impact because it spread in areas with broad international commercial links and received intense media attention as a mysterious new illness that seemed able to go anywhere and hit anyone.
Topic:
International Relations, Human Welfare, Poverty, and Third World
Political Geography:
United States

73. Living at the Edge: America's Low–Income Children and Families

Author:
Hsien-Hen Lu, Julian Palmer, Younghwan Song, Mary Clare Lennon, and J. Lawrence Aber
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University
Abstract:
By analyzing data from the Current Population Survey March Supplements, Living at the Edge explores the following questions about children in low-income families in the United States: What are the overall changes in the low-income and poverty rates for children over the past quarter century? How has the population of children in low-income families changed over the past decade? Which children are more likel to live in low-income famlies? How have changes in parental employment status affected the likelihood children living in low-income families? What are the state by state variations in child low-income and poverty rates, and how have these changed in the last decade? How does a more inclusive definition of family income and expenses affect our understanding of the poverty and near-poverty rates of children in low-income families?
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
United States

74. Demonizing Drugmakers: The Political Assault on the Pharmaceutical Industry

Author:
Doug Bandow
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Few sectors of the economy have provided more benefits to consumers than the pharmaceutical industry. Drugmakers have been vilified by patients and politicians alike, however, because of what they see as unreasonably high drug costs.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

75. Children of Immigrants Show Slight Reductions in Poverty, Hardship

Author:
Michael E. Fix, Randy Capps, and Jane Reardon-Anderson
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The share of U.S. children under age 18 with an immigrant parent or parents increased between 1999 and 2002. Poverty among these children fell slightly during the same period, and the shares with health insurance and access to a usual source of health care rose. However, most other measures of economic well-being did not change significantly between 1999 and 2002, and children of immigrants continued to face greater hardship than children of native parents.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

76. A Profile of The Foreign-Born in Lowell, Massachusetts

Author:
Katherine Lotspeich, Michael Fix, Dan Perez-Lopez, and Jason Ost
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The Building the New American Community demonstration project is an experiment in refugee and immigrant integration in which the cities of Lowell, Massachusetts; Nashville, Tennessee; and Portland, Oregon formed coalitions to identify integration challenges in their com m unities and address them collaboratively. These cities were assisted by a national team of policy analysts, advocates, and researchers from the Nation al Conference of State Legislatures, the National Immigration Forum, the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, The Urban Institute, and the Migration Policy Institute.
Topic:
Demographics, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

77. Immigrants and TANF: A Look at Immigrant Welfare Recipients in Three Cities

Author:
Karen C. Tumlin and Wendy Zimmermann
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The federal welfare reform act of 1996 (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, or PRWORA) dramatically revamped the welfare system, turning it into a block grant program run by the states, imposing new, stricter work requirements and setting a five-year lifetime limit on benefit receipt. For immigrants the law did all that and much more. In a major departure from previous policy, the law sharply curtailed noncitizens' eligibility for welfare and other major federal benefits.
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

78. How Are Immigrants Faring After Welfare Reform?: Preliminary Evidence from Los Angeles and New York City - Final Report

Author:
Randy Capps, Michael Fix, Dan Perez-Lopez, Jeffrey Passel, Leighton Ku, Chris Furgiuele, Rajeev Ramchand, and Scott McNiven
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
In 1996, debates about welfare reform and immigration converged and reshaped federal policies about the eligibility of legally admitted immigrants for means-tested public benefits programs, including the Food Stamp Program (FSP), Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Before the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was enacted in 1996, legal immigrants were eligible for benefits on terms similar to those of native-born citizens. The new law significantly limited the eligibility of legally-admitted immigrants for means-tested federal benefit programs, particularly immigrants entering the United States after the welfare reform law was passed in August 1996.
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

79. Illegal Immigration, Human Trafficking, and Organized Crime

Author:
Raimo Väyrynen
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
It is important to make a careful distinction between illegal immigration, human smuggling, and human trafficking which are nested, but yet different concepts. This distinction is relevant because these different categories of the illegal movement of people across borders have quite different legal and political consequences. Human smuggling and trafficking have become a world-wide industry that 'employs' every year millions of people and leads to the annual turnover of billions of dollars. Many of the routes and enclaves used by the smugglers have become institutionalized; for instance, from Mexico and Central America to the United States, from West Asia through Greece and Turkey to Western Europe, and within East and Southeast Asia. More often than not flourishing smuggling routes are made possible by weak legislation, lax border controls, corrupted police officers, and the power of the organized crime. Naturally, poverty and warfare contribute to the rising tide of migration, both legal and illegal.
Topic:
Environment and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Turkey, East Asia, Greece, Asia, Latin America, Central America, North America, Mexico, Southeast Asia, Western Europe, and West Asia

80. Trends in Asylum Migration to Industrialized Countries: 1990-2001

Author:
Stephen Castles and Sean Loughna
Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to outline trends and patterns in movements of asylumseekers to Western so-called industrialized countries from 1990-2001. The paper begins by characterizing three distinct phases of asylum migration since the end of the Second World War. It then provides background material on global refugee and asylum movements, using statistics from UNHCR. The data for selected receiving countries and regions is discussed, followed by some remarks on changing routes used by asylumseekers. The selected countries and regions are Australia, Canada, the EU and the USA. Finally, we examine some of the causal factors behind asylum migration and attempt to identify their significance upon flows migration.
Topic:
Development, Diplomacy, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States, Canada, and Australia

81. AIDS - Broken Promises Cost Lives

Author:
Salih Booker and Phill Wilson
Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
In his January State of the Union Address, President George Bush announced an "Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" that promised $3 billion a year in funding focused primarily on Africa and the Caribbean. Within weeks he broke that promise by seeking no new funding for 2003 and by requesting less than half a billion for the new effort in his 2004 budget. On the domestic front, this administration has proposed flat funding of the AIDS portfolio-which amounts to a decrease in funding- and diverted resources from HIV/AIDS research.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, and Caribbean

82. Broken Promises Betrayals: Africa Action Talking Points on President Bush's AIDS Policies

Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
Since his State of the Union address in January 2003, President Bush has reaped great public relations benefits by parading himself as a compassionate conservative, committed to helping the people of Africa defeat AIDS. But the reality is very different. When he traveled to the continent in July 2003, Bush repeatedly emphasized how much his Administration was doing to fight the AIDS crisis. And on the domestic front, the President has said that his Administration remains committed to confronting AIDS in the U.S. But President Bush's track record on AIDS policy reveals a litany of broken promises and betrayals. The President has misrepresented the actions of his Administration. He has misled the American public, and he has failed the people of Africa. Bush's broken promises are costing thousands of African lives every day. The following talking points include quotes from the President, promising leadership in the war on AIDS. These are followed by facts about the reality of his Administration's policies.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

83. America and Africa

Author:
Salih Booker, Ann-Louise Colgan, and William Minter
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
In a dangerous replay of the cold war, the United States is likely to ignore Africa's priorities, placing military basing rights above human rights. The war against AIDS, by far the most important global effort and an especially urgent priority for Africa, will continue to suffer from a lack of resources. The American war on Iraq will also have a major negative impact on the global economy, with dire consequences for African development. In addition, this year will likely see United States unilateralism directly at odds with African interests in building multilateral approaches to the continent's greatest challenges, which range from HIV / AIDS to international trade rules and peacekeeping.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, and America

84. AIDS Has a Woman's Face

Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
Gender inequalities are a major driving force behind the global AIDS crisis. Around the world, AIDS takes its most devastating toll on women and girls. Globally, nearly 5,000 women become infected with HIV every day. Hardest hit of all are Black women and girls in Africa and in the U.S., who are most vulnerable as a result of poverty and discrimination.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

85. The Color of AIDS: Racism and AIDS in the U.S. and Africa

Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
HIV/AIDS is a deadly global threat, and no one is immune. But some people are more vulnerable than others. At home and abroad, AIDS takes its most devastating toll in poor communities, where people lack access to adequate health care.
Topic:
Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

86. War in Iraq: Managing Humanitarian Relief

Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The impassioned controversy that surrounded the decision to invade Iraq had the unfortunate consequence of impeding coordination of humanitarian relief operations. Now that the war has begun, it is important to deal with the urgent task of meeting the needs of the Iraqi people. That will require steps by those who were opposed to the war, in particular European governments and NGOs, to agree to work in close coordination with the United States and put their plans and their funding on the table. And it will require steps by the United States to eschew a dominant role in the post-conflict humanitarian effort and hand coordination over to the United Nations.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Human Welfare, Non-Governmental Organization, Politics, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Europe, and Arabia

87. Data Sheet on Coalition Fatalities in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Subsequent Occupation

Author:
Eli Jellenc
Publication Date:
07-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
For the most “official” figures: As of July 21, the Department of Defense's “Defend America” site acknowledges the following fatalities. (Note: the DoD's figures lag behind most major news sources by a few days but details tend to be more accurate overall)
Topic:
Demographics, Human Welfare, and War
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, and Arabia

88. A First-hand Report: Cuban Biotechnology

Author:
Glenn Baker
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
John Bolton, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, triggered a furor when on May 6, 2002, he stated, “The United States believes that Cuba has at least a limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort.” Two days later, I was meeting with a representative from the Cuban Interests Section on an unrelated matter when I posed the question, “How would Cuba respond if CDI asked to bring a group of experts down to learn more about these charges?” I had no expectations of hearing any more about it. But less than two weeks later, I was told that not only was there an interest, but that we were invited to bring anyone, come anytime, and visit anywhere we wanted. Clearly, Bolton's comments had struck a nerve in Havana.
Topic:
Security, Human Welfare, Science and Technology, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States, Caribbean, and Havana

89. International Monetary Policy Coordination and Financial Market Integration

Author:
Alan Sutherland
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
The welfare gains from international coordination of monetary policy are analysed in a two-country model with sticky prices. The gains from coordination are compared under two alternative structures for financial markets: financial autarky and risk sharing. The welfare gains from coordination are found to be largest when there is risk sharing and the elasticity of substitution between home and foreign goods is greater than unity. When there is no risk sharing the gains to coordination are almost zero. It is also shown that the welfare gain from risk sharing can be negative when monetary policy is uncoordinated.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States

90. Optimal Monetary Policy with Durable and Non-Durable Goods

Author:
Christopher J. Erceg and Andrew T. Levin
Publication Date:
07-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
The durable goods sector is much more interest sensitive than the non-durables sector, and these sectoral differences have important implications for monetary policy. In this paper, we perform VAR analysis of quarterly US data and find that a monetary policy innovation has a peak impact on durable expenditures that is roughly five times as large as its impact on non-durable expenditures. We then proceed to formulate and calibrate a two-sector dynamic general equilibrium model that roughly matches the impluse response functions of the data. While the social welfare function involves sector-specific output gaps and inflation rates, we find that performance of the optimal policy rule can be closely approximated by a very simple rule that targets a weighted average of aggregate wage and price inflation rates. In contrast, some commonly-prescribed policy rules (such as strict price inflation targeting and Taylor's rule) perform very poorly in terms of social welfare.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States

91. Immigration in the United States

Author:
Philip L. Martin
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
Abstract:
This chapter summarizes migration patterns, puts the immigration and integration challenges facing the US in a global context, reviews the evolution of US immigration and immigration policy, and then focuses on some of the immigration and integration issues being debated early in the 21st century. Immigration is likely to continue at current levels of 900,000 legal and 300,000 unauthorized a year, so that Americans will, in the words of former Census director Kenneth Prewitt, "redefine ourselves as the first country in world history which is literally made up of every part of the world."
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

92. Immigrant Well-Being in New York and Los Angeles

Author:
Randy Capps and Michael E. Fix
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Despite their strong attachment to the labor force, large numbers of immigrants and their families in New York and Los Angeles have low incomes, lack health insurance, and are food insecure. The most powerful predictor of poverty and hardship is their limited English skills. Legal immigrants arriving after welfare reform's enactment in 1996—who have the most restricted access to public benefits—are poorer than immigrants arriving before the law's enactment.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States and New York

93. The Health and Well-Being of Children in Immigrant Families

Author:
Randy Capps, Michael Fix, and Jame Reardon-Anderson
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Children of immigrants are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population under age 18 (Van Hook and Fix 2000). One in five children in the United States is the child of an immigrant, evidence of the demographic impact of recent rapid immigration. In addition, one in four low income children is an immigrant's child (Fix, Zimmermann, and Passel 2001). But despite their demographic and policy significance, children of immigrants and their well-being are rarely studied on a national scale. In this brief, we present a number of key indicators—both positive and negative—of child well-being. The measures fall within three areas: (1) family environment, (2) physical and emotional health, and (3) access to needed services.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Migration, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States

94. The Dispersal of Immigrants in the 1990s

Author:
Randy Capps, Michael Fix, and Jeffrey Passel
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The U.S. immigrant population grew rapidly during the 1990s, with growth rates especially high across a wide band of states in the Southeast, Midwest, and Rocky Mountain regions. In many of these states, the foreign-born population more than doubled between 1990 and 2000.
Topic:
Demographics, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

95. The Community Capacity Fund: Understanding its Role in Strengthening the Washington, D.C. Region After 9/11

Author:
Rachel Mosher-Williams
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The Community Capacity Fund (CCF), a program of Washington Grantmakers, is acknowledged as a new model of national funding for local, collaborative grantmaking. In the face of serious community needs and concerns post–September 11, 2001, as well as many potential ways to address those needs, the Fund developed a framework for strengthening the ability of nonprofits to respond to the terrorist attacks. An investment by the Ford Foundation (and, ultimately, several other funders) in the Washington, D.C., region's recovery enabled a large group of experienced local grant makers and nonprofit leaders to jointly translate that framework into action. Within less than a year, CCF awarded $1,400,055 in grants to organizations advocating for and reemploying workers dislocated by September 11, as well as to organizations developing cross-jurisdictional efforts to respond to future disasters.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
United States and Washington

96. Measuring Unemployment Benefit Recipiency in New Zealand

Author:
Wayne Vroman
Publication Date:
07-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
This is a paper about measurement. It originated within a project that is examining the performance of unemployment compensation (UC) programs from a cross-national perspective. At the current time the larger project has assembled data on the UC programs of more than 20 countries along with supporting labor market data. Within the set of OECD countries, the project has singled out for particular attention six English speaking countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. An analysis of the unemployment protection systems in these six countries was recently completed by Brusentsev (2002).
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand

97. The Scope and Impact of Welfare Reform's Immigrant Provisions

Author:
Michael Fix and Jeffrey Passel
Publication Date:
01-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
For immigrants, welfare reform went well beyond conditioning access to cash benefits on work. Rather, the law set out a comprehensive scheme for determining immigrant eligibility for a wide range of social benefits that are provided by governments at all levels. Reform represented a major departure from prior policy by making citizenship more central to the receipt of benefits, by granting the states rather than the federal government the power to determine immigrant eligibility for benefits, and by drawing a sharp distinction between immigrants arriving before and after PRWORA's enactment on August 22, 1996.
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

98. Russian Health and Social Welfare: Limited Progress

Author:
Judyth L. Twigg
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
It has become routine for Russian policy makers to characterize their various health and social problems—rising male mortality, HIV/AIDS, illegal drug use, even pension system reform—as threats to the stability and national security of their country. Russia's importance to American national interests was thrown in sharp relief by the events of September 11 and their aftermath. A stable, prosperous Russia is a crucial partner in the war on terrorism. The fact that so many of Russia's health and social indicators remain stagnant or in decline, despite limited improvement along some dimensions, should therefore be troubling to the United States.
Topic:
Government, Health, Human Welfare, Science and Technology, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, and Asia

99. Building the Dual Earner/Dual Carer Society: Policy Developments in Europe

Author:
Marcia Meyers and Janet Gornick
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
A new model of work and family life is emerging out of contemporary debates on social citizenship and the characteristics of the “woman-friendly” welfare state. The dual-earner/ dual-carer model refers to a social and economic arrangement in which men and women engage symmetrically in both paid work in the labor market and in unpaid work in the home. Parents' ability to balance family and market responsibilities, and to allocate employment and childcare-giving equally between mothers and fathers, could be facilitated by a package of state policies. Three areas of supportive policy – all invarious states of development across Europe – include: (1) family leave schemes that provide job protections and wage replacement for parents of young children; (2) affordable, high quality early childhood education and care, to a limited extent for very young children and to a much larger extent for children aged three to school-age; and (3) labor market regulations aimed at shortening the standard work week and strengthening re-muneration for reduced-hour employment. In this paper, we review European policy provisions, and then turn our attention to the United States case. We suggest that embracing the vision of the dual-earner/ dual-carer society may help to draw diverse but unified support for family policy development in the United States.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

100. Fieldwork Methodology for a CDIE Assessment of USAID and Poverty Reduction Approaches

Author:
Jonathan Sleeper and Lynn Salinger
Publication Date:
08-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:
The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, U.N. agencies, many bilateral donors, and a number of developing countries have made poverty reduction their overarching development objective. The United States was a signatory in 1996 to the OECD/DAC's international development goals, which included halving of world poverty by 2015. Under the aegis of a comprehensive development framework which empowers national partners to design and implement their own development actions, debt relief for the world's most heavily indebted poor countries is being linked by the multinational development organizations to the development of national Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs).
Topic:
Development, Economics, Human Welfare, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States